05-18-2005, 01:38 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Crazy
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LA elects its first Latino mayor in 133 years
Maybe a sign that the immigrant vote is starting to take real power in some places? What do you think?
Quote:
Antonio Villaraigosa romped past incumbent James K. Hahn to make history Tuesday, winning election as the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since the city's pioneer days. Riding a huge wave of voter discontent, the challenger avenged his 2001 loss to Hahn, who possessed an iconic family name but never connected strongly with voters during a rocky four-year term.
Villaraigosa's landslide represented a crowning symbol of Latinos' growing clout in California, after decades of population gains that failed to produce a commensurate rise in political power. L.A.'s last Latino mayor, Cristobal Aguilar, left office in 1872, when the now-sprawling metropolis was a frontier outpost of barely 6,000 people. The runoff contest also produced a striking parallel with the city's last breakthrough election in 1973, when Tom Bradley won a rematch against incumbent Sam Yorty to become the first black mayor of Los Angeles. That race also marked the last time a mayor was turned out of City Hall.
Shortly before midnight, a beaming Villaraigosa greeted chanting supporters to claim victory and restate his campaign's theme of unity.
"It doesn't matter whether you grew up on the Eastside or the Westside, whether you're from South Los Angeles or Sylmar," he said. "It doesn't matter whether you go to work in a fancy car or on a bus, or whether you worship in a cathedral or a synagogue or a mosque. We are all Angelenos, and we all have a difference to make."
Villaraigosa staged his victory party downtown in a grandiose setting befitting the historic occasion. Thousands of supporters swarmed the street outside Los Angeles Center Studios — the former Unocal headquarters — with downtown skyscrapers as a backdrop and lavender jacaranda trees glowing under lights shining from the rooftop.
"Let's declare our purpose here and now," Villaraigosa said, to roars from the crowd. "Our purpose is to bring this great city together. Our purpose is to draw fully and equally on the rich diversity of all our communities and neighborhoods."
A short time later, he said Hahn had called him and "conceded in a gracious manner."
For his part, the defeated incumbent thanked his campaign volunteers and supporters at a Hollywood nightclub and mounted a rousing defense of his tenure.
"This city is so much better off," he said, citing a drop in violent crime and a rise in new housing. "That stuff didn't just magically happen."
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...home-headlines |
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